March Is Fraud Prevention Month |

March is Fraud Prevention Month. According to the Competition Bureau, scammers are becoming more sophisticated in their attempt to steal your money or personal information. As reported in a recent article in the Globe and Mail, social media scams are common today. Using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other websites, scammers try to sell you fake products and, in the process, gain access to some of your personal information.

Luckily, there are many resources available to help you protect yourself. The RCMP will be issuing tips and information throughout the month on their Fraud Prevention Month website. Want to learn more about the scams that are out there? Have a look a the Competitions Bureau's Little Black Book of Scams.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is another great resource of information on frauds, scams, and indentity theft. The homepage includes a list of ongoing scams that police want to warn the public about. If you suspect you have been a victim of fraud, make sure you report it this centre. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that around 95% of fraud crimes go unreported.

The GetCyberSafe is another excellent website containing information on internet security risks and the steps to take to protect yourself, your family, your computers and your mobile devices . Its Recover From A Cyber Incident section has a comprehensive list of organizations to contact if you suspect that you have been a victim of fraud. It also has quite a bit of information for paren'ts and teens on cyberbullying.

Learning about internet safety doesn't have to be boring. For some entertaining short videos, check out netbasics.org.nz. Using humour and animation, these videos teach important lessons on web safety. NetBasics is an organization that includes police, educators, paren'ts, students and several other New Zealand organizations.

Here is the trailer to give you a sample of what this series is like: